The present invention relates to equipment safety, and more specifically to equipment stoppage and reporting of inappropriate or unsafe use of equipment.
In manufacturing and/or construction industries, where complex and dangerous machinery or equipment is used, employers may ensure all their staff gets properly trained, as inappropriate usage of one of those pieces of machinery may hurt an employee causing injury. Injuries can affect an employee's ability to work for some days, resulting in a disability or, in the worst case, cause the death of the employee.
Currently there are tools for specific usage of machinery and the manufacturer provides instructions to users on how the user should properly use the device.
However, users may have not paid attention to the training, are distracted when using the machinery, or simply use the machinery in improper ways out of negligence.
While companies or employers establish rules and policies to generate a safe workplace, even with the best practices in place, workplace accidents still happen. Statistics show that the index of accidents has been improving over the years, given the efforts of companies and government organizations or associations. However, even with the best training, an employee may be distracted and improperly use machinery.
Furthermore, it is recognized that beyond national or regional laws governing workplace safety, many companies or job foremen will have their own, unique ideas on workplace safety.
Some machinery has mechanisms that force a device to stop. However, the user can turn the machine on again and continue working after a force stop. If the user again engages in inappropriate usage, the machinery will stop again and this can continue happening, affecting productivity or eventually causing damage to the machinery or the user.